The present invention relates to hand crafts and, more specifically without limitation, to looms and weaving.
Various types of hand crafts are applied and used by a multitude of individuals, not only as a hobby but also for commercial purposes. Handicraft items include enhancements for clothing, clothing accessories, ceremonial artifacts, etc., such as those fashioned by Native Americans and groups, such as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, for example.
Many of those items comprise parallel arrays of strings that form a framework for holding beads in various patterns. Such work is generally performed on a loom that supports the parallel-arrayed strings as beads are mounted thereon. Unfortunately, most if not all prior art bead looms do not maintain proper tension on individual strings while beads are being mounted on the strings. As a result, most beadwork formed on prior art looms is loose and uneven. Further, most prior art bead looms can provide only very limited lengths of string. As a result, the lengths of beadwork that can be produced on those looms is also limited.
What is needed is a bead loom that can maintain proper tension on each individual string of a parallel array of strings as beads are being mounted thereon. What is also needed is a bead loom that enables lengthy beadwork to be formed without having to change strings or splice strings together.